Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
by goddess of the water
Summary: A future fic taking place 6 or 7 months after Hi, Society, before Roman Holiday. Pairings: DanSerena, LilyRufus, LilyBart, ChuckBlairlater.
1. Stuck

Part 1: Stuck

_I can't take it_

_What am I waiting for?_

_My heart's still breaking_

_I miss you even more_

_And I can't fake it_

_The way I could before_

_I hate you but I love you_

_I can't stop thinking of you_

_Its true_

_I'm stuck on you_

In the five months since his separation and divorce from his wife, Rufus Humphrey had

developed a daily routine which he followed almost every day. He woke up, made breakfast for himself, Dan, and Jenny, went to work, had coffee with one Lily Van der Woodsen as his lunch break, worked a lot more, and had band practice. After practice, he had the rest of the night to do whatever he pleased, as he had noone to come home to but Dan and Jenny, and they were normally too caught up in their own affairs to ask about where he went. They were, however, adept enough to notice that their father was in a rut, and although they were well acquainted with their mother's boyfriend in Hudson, they had never heard of their father going on a date, except for one instance in which they came home early and saw a woman, hurriedly introduced to them as Bex as she dressed and was shoved out the door. As much as they hated the thought of Rufus dating Lily, the mental scarring that would come from their relationship had to be better than seeing Rufus just like he had been when Allison had first left them. And the two children, especially Dan, knew enough about the breakdown of their parents' marriage to know that his current state had little or nothing to do with their mother.

"So, how is Bart?"Rufus asked Lily over a large bowl of pasta as they lounged casually in the back room of his art gallery, unable to keep a bit of hostility out of his voice.

Lily shifted uncomfortably, her hand resting over the pocket of her jeans. "He's okay, I guess."

Rufus pounced on her uncertainty. "You two having problems?"

She shook her head. "No." She paused. "Don't look too disappointed."

He grinned apologetically. "Can't help it."

She took a sip of wine, sighing. "He's a great guy-"

Rufus scoffed, and she promptly reached out and hit him sharply with her purse. "What are you, 12?"

He rubbed his arm, feigning hurt and offense. "No, of course not. _Jesus_, Lily."

She sent a self-satisfied smirk in his direction. "As I was saying, while he is a great guy, our relationship is..lacking something."

"You mean..." Rufus trailed off, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "No, that area of our relationship is spectacular. But feel free to ask any overly personal question that pops into that small brain of yours."

Rufus shrugged. "I told you he wouldn't be able to keep up with you."

"He's more adept than you might think." she teased.

Rufus cringed, covering his eyes with his hands and groaning in an overly exaggerated manner. "Now there's an image I did not want in my head."

Lily laughed softly, noticing the small spark of intensity in his eyes indicating that he was only half-joking. She raised the glass to her lips with an intentional slowness, taking advantage of the fact that she could tell he was jealous.

"Well..."he amended, watching her lips encircle the glass and swallow the wine in that slightly seductive manner only some women were able to pull off, "Half of that image anyway." He paused, smiling mockingly at her. "Although that Bart Bass...pretty hot stuff."

She picked up the purse again and began swinging it at him in a series of successive motion, her grin wide as he ducked out of the way, arms over his face, laughing and yelling "Not the purse! Not the purse!"

In an unexpected move, Lily tackled him, lightly punching him as he continued to laugh. He grabbed her arms and pulled them toward him forcefully, making her lose her balance and fall on top of him, her blonde hair covering their faces. By this time, she was hyperventilating because of the spasms of laughter that were overwhelming her. Rufus took advantage at her distraction, easily flipping her slender form over so that he was pinning her to the ground.

"Surrender." he whispered. "I win."

Her blue eyes sparkled with the thrill of a challenge. "Never, Humphrey."

"You're in a very compromising position right now. You wouldn't want Bart to see any evidence of this, would you?"

Lily's eyes widened as she noticed her own cell phone open, the camera grinning at her triumphantly.

"Rufus..."she warned, and that was all the encouragement he needed. Lily saw the incriminating flash inside of her eyes, which were shut tight as Rufus tickled her, and she could not resist giggling.

"Rufus, stop it! Seriously, that tickles!" she squealed, hating how much he seemed to enjoy making her squirm underneath him. "Alright, alright, you win!" she exclaimed, holding her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

He raised his own arms in triumph, freeing her enough to escape his grip and pin him to the ground in the same positing where she just was.

"Poor, sad little Humphrey. Don't you ever learn? Van der Woodsens' play to win."

"Really?" he asked, running his hands up her legs so that they rested on her thighs. "Can I test that theory?"

This moment had suddenly become very intense, and Lily wasn't sure whether or not she liked it.

"I don't know, can you?" she responded, her breath catching in her throat as he pulled her close and, after a moment of hesitation, kissed her gently. Lily responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck for stability and wondering vaguely how she had survived so long without this.

Feeling her cell phone in Rufus's pocket as he pulled her even closer against him, she pulled out the phone and moved slightly away from him, smiling against his lips as he deepened the kiss, not reacting in the slightest to the absence of the phone. Rufus began to trail light kisses down her neck and across her collarbone, unable to get enough of her. She was so caught up in where his lips were going that she literally jumped a few inches in the air when her cell phone rang in her hand. Her entire body seemed to slump in frustration as she glanced at the Caller ID. Rufus followed her gaze, his stare darkening as the name "Bart" twinkled up at him from the blue screen. He pretended to be unaffected by this, turning her face away from the phone and recapturing her lips forcefully. She broke away almost immediately, moving to open the phone and breathing heavily as Rufus refused to stop kissing her.

"Don't answer it." he said, sounding somewhat desperate.

Lily looked almost guilty as she shook her head, bewildered that a phone could ring for so long. "I have to." she responded, pushing him lightly to make him stop as she opened her phone and nearly shouted "Hello?!" into the speaker. Rufus sighed, defeated as Lily stood up and attempted to smooth out her outfit. "No, no, no darling, I'm fine, just out shopping, you caught me by suprise." she lied, biting her lip. "What? An hour ag-its already three?!?!"

Rufus looked up at her curiously as she mouthed various swear words over and over again as she listened to whatever Bart was rambling about. If it had been anyone but Bart on the phone, he would have found her expression hilarious.

"No, no, of course. I am so sorry. I must have lost track of time..you know me and shopping..." she trailed off, laughing a laugh that was completely unfamiliar to him, it was nervous and vaguely fake. "No, it was fine to start without me..wait WHAT?! Four weeks, that's way too soon!" She closed her eyes in frustration. "I understand that, Bart, but it'll be nearly impossible to.." she stopped abruptly, her eyes darting over to Rufus and then back towards the opposite wall. "Give me 30 minutes and I'll be there. Feel free to make any other rash decisions while you're at it. Alright. Alright! You too, bye." Lily snapped the phone shut, gathering her things haphazardly without looking at Rufus.

"So, what was all that about?" he asked innocently.

She spared him a short glance. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all. I'm just really, really, colossally late." She walked briskly out the door of the back room and through the gallery, closing her eyes for the second time in a short time as she heard Rufus's footsteps clomping behind her.

"You're ditching me for him." he stated, sounding legitimately hurt.

"Rufus, I..." she sighed, seeming close to elaborating but deciding against it. "I can't do this now. Please. We'll have lunch, and we'll talk, I promise, but right now, I really have to go." she replied, turning away from him and practically sprinting out the door and down the street, leaving him standing completely still with a mixture of shock, hurt, and disappointment clouding his face.

Lily waited until she was on the subway heading safely back to the Upper East Side to sigh heavily and let her hand reach up to cover her face, not wanting to show any sign of weakness in front of Rufus. Keeping things from him was hard enough without the sweet comfort he was sure to give her the second she broke down in front of him. Her stop arrived after twenty minutes of agonizing thought and doubts about what she was about to do, about Rufus, and the kisses he had so recently bestowed upon her. Shoving these thoughts to the back corner of her mind for the time being, she hurried into the large brick building, easily locating the office in which she was supposed to meet Bart. She stopped just shy of the door, feeling like someone had stamped a bright red warning label reading "Emotionally Confused," across her forehead. Lily ran her fingers through her hair and reapplied her favorite lipstick(which, of course, she would deny wearing for the sole benefit of a certain attractive former rock star) before plunging her hand into the pocket of her jeans and pulling out a ring with a gold band and one large diamond in the middle. She slid it onto her left ring finger, and, regarding it warily, stepped into the office of Karen Smith, professional wedding planner.

So is it too cliche to continue? Feedback is great, as always. I feel like this part is missing something...


	2. Come Home

Part 2: Come Home

_There's someone I've been missing_

_And I think they could be_

_The better half of me_

_They're in the wrong place_

_Trying to make it right_

_But I'm tired of justifying _

_So I say to you_

_Come home, come home_

'_Cause I've been waiting for you_

_For so long, so long_

_Right now there's a war between the vanities_

_But all I see is you and me_

_The fight for you is all I've ever known_

_So come home._

"Hey, you've reached Lily Van der Woodsen. Leave a message, and I'll get back to you soon. Ciao!"

"Hey, Lil, its Rufus. Just trying to make lunch plans for tomorrow, we really need to talk. And, its been a week since I've seen you, and, well, I miss you. But, uh, I'll talk to you soon. Bye."

"Who was that?" Serena asked curiously as she flopped onto her mother's bed. Lily was leaning against the wall next to the bathroom, and had hurriedly snapped the phone shut at the entrance of her daughter.

"No one." Lily replied smoothly, walking over to her closet and surveying its contents critically.

Serena looked unconvinced, observing the robe her mother was currently wearing and the way her damp blonde hair clung to her neck and shoulders.

"It was obviously someone important, you've been in here for an hour and a half and you still haven't dried your hair, or picked out an outfit." She surveyed Lily suspiciously. "What is going on with you?"

Lily turned around to stare at her daughter with raised eyebrows. "Nothing is going _on_ with me."

"There is something. You've been down ever since you met with the wedding planner last week."

"I've been stressed, Serena. Planning a wedding is more work than it looks like, and in three weeks, no less."

Serena was not convinced, but replied "I still can't believe you're letting Bart get away with that."

Lily shrugged, taking a medium-length black dress out of her closet that she knew emphasized her long legs.

"You know, we have a very one-sided relationship." Serena complained, raising her head from the pillow.

"We do not."

"We do too. You hardly tell me anything, but you know all about Dan."  
"Yeah, right. If you count telling me 'I'm busy with Dan tonight' as telling me something." Lily teased, adjusting her dress as she scrutinized herself in the mirror. She slid on a pair of black stilettos as she sank onto the bed next to Serena. Noticing her wedding ring on the bedside table beside them, she quickly slid it onto her finger and tried not to pay attention to how out of place the large, showy diamond looked on her thin hand.

"You're right. I really do not want to know what you and Bart Bass get up to."

"Serena." Lily warned, noting the mocking tone her daughter had taken to using whenever her fiancé was brought up in conversation.

"I just can't believe that you're _marrying_ him. Of all people.."

"Bart is a great guy." Lily defended weakly.

"He's a bigger womanizer than his son, and that's saying something."

"And how would you know that? Have you dated him?"

Serena shot her a disgusted look. "Hell no. That's sick."

Lily didn't respond, walking into the large master bathroom to retrieve the hair dryer. Serena followed her, unable to believe that her mother was admitting defeat.

"You couldn't have picked any other mindless, spineless, unfeeling billionaire, you had to pick the one that would force me to live with Chuck."

"Serena, save the melodrama for someone who cares." Lily snapped.

Serena's eyes narrowed in obvious hurt. "Just tell me one thing. Has he ever told you he's in love with you?"

"Of course. And I don't see how this is any of your business."

"Do you love him?" Serena demanded. Lily's silence spoke volumes. "So, if you don't love him, you're obviously marrying him for his money, which makes you no better than a common whore."

"Serena Celia, you will take that back!"

"And what if I don't? Normal people get married because they love someone, not because they have more money than God."

"Get out." Lily said after a moment of silence.

Serena complied, throwing her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and storming out of the room. Lily sighed as she heard the door slam behind her daughter. She picked up the hair dryer and began to dry her hair methodically, a blank expression on her face. She allowed a few, lone tears to run down her cheeks as she worked, but once finished she had regained her normal confident exterior. Lily Van der Woodsen didn't have mental breakdowns, she just caused them. After eyeing herself critically in the mirror one last time, she opened her phone and stared at it for the longest time. Closing her eyes, she pushed "Send" quickly, her stomach clenching as she heard the first ring, than the second….

Serena flounced into the living room area with a frustrated sigh. Erik glanced up from his laptop and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Did you _have _to call her a whore?" he asked.

"Someone had to." Serena replied. "She's not happy with him, but stays with him anyway. Maybe this will finally get her to wake up and smell the roses."

"Maybe she's just afraid to be alone." Erik suggested.

Serena shook her head. "No, that's not really like her."

"She has been married four times." he reminded her. "That's not exactly a sign of stability."

"True. But, I don't know…I just feel like there's something else going on that's bigger than that. I can't explain it.."

"Look, I don't like Bart either. But they've been dating for four months straight, and the wedding is in three weeks. We can't do anything about it anymore."

"Erik, this isn't about me." Serena said.

Erik raised his eyebrows. "Really? So normally when you argue about her, you bring up how much you hate Bart and Chuck."

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to go about it. But I'm so sick of her being unhappy all the time and taking it out on us. Its so…"  
"Frustrating." Erik finished. "I know. But what can we really…" He trailed off as his mother entered the room, glancing at her in confusion. "You look nice." he said. "But, I thought you were just picking out a catering company."

Lily shrugged. "Bart said to look nice, so I picked out something nice." She pointedly avoided Serena's gaze.

"Well, it worked." Serena said after an awkward silence.

Lily finally looked her daughter's way, seeing apology in her eyes, and nodded. The three Van der Woodsens shared a smile before a knock on the door interrupted them.

"That must be Bart." Lily said, a much colder, faker smile on her lips now. Her kids both noticed the change and Serena looked at her brother as if to say "I told you so."

"Good evening Serena, Erik." their mother's fiancé greeted in an overly formal manner as he was let in the door. Serena tried her hardest not to look disgusted, while Erik was forced to fake a coughing fit to keep from laughing at his sister's pathetic attempt at self- control.

"He-hello Mr. Bass." Erik choked. Serena bit her lip to keep from joining him.

Lily closed her eyes in frustration, but Bart seemed oblivious to her children's antics. "Erik, how many times have I told you, call me Bart."

"Hello, dear family." another voice announced smugly.

Serena clenched her teeth as Chuck Bass appeared behind his father, smirking.

"Hi, Chuck." Lily said, her smile a bit less cold than before.

"Hey, sorry I'm late…" Jenny Humphrey's voice floated over the Van der Woodsen's apartment as she walked through the still open door. She stopped short as she saw Chuck standing by the door. "What is he doing here?"  
"Ah…little Jenny. Fancy meeting you here."

Jenny flushed slightly, but did not make a reply.

"I'm sorry; I don't think we've met." Bart interjected, hoping to diffuse a situation before it occurred.

Jenny looked up at him in surprise. "No, um, I guess not."

"Oh, how rude of me. Jenny, this is my fiancé Bart Bass, Bart Bass, this is Jenny Humphrey." Lily said quickly, seeing Erik close his eyes in a similar fashion as she had earlier.

Bart took Jenny's hand and shook it politely. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." He paused. "I see you already know my son, Charles."

Jenny nodded in affirmation, looking uncomfortable.

"I didn't know you were coming over tonight, Jen." Serena said with a pointed glare at her younger brother.

"It was a last minute thing. I hope its okay." Jenny replied, looking at Lily nervously.

"Oh, Jenny, you know you're always welcome here." Lily said warmly.

Jenny grinned. "Thanks, Lily."

"I'm sorry to interrupt but we really should be going." Bart said with a worried glance at his watch.

Lily picked up her purse and took Bart's hand. "Be good while we're gone. Is Dan coming over too?"

Jenny and Serena shook their heads simultaneously. "He's got a World Lit paper due in the morning that he hasn't started, Dad made him stay home." Jenny explained.

"Just make sure you're home on time, you don't want Rufus angry at you." Lily replied as she walked out the door. "Bye, guys."

"Bye!" Jenny, Erik, and Serena chorused. Chuck remained silent, glancing at his phone.

As soon as the door closed, Serena rounded on Chuck. "Feel free to leave at any point. Now would be great."

"What, and miss the chance to bond with my new family, and my brother's little girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Erik muttered, blushing.

"Leave him alone, Bass. And seriously, get out." Serena ordered.

Chuck complied. "I'll be back." He warned as he shut the door behind him.

Jenny sighed audibly with relief as she heard the door slam. Serena looked at her sympathetically. "Sorry about that. I had no idea he was even coming up, he wasn't invited."

Jenny shrugged it off. "Its okay. As long as he doesn't come back." She smiled at Erik, showing off pearly whites. "Now how about that movie marathon you promised me?"

Rufus stared at his cell phone blankly, shocked. He left his phone for an hour, and Lily finally decides to return one of his one hundred phone calls? Shaking his head at the irony of the situation, he opened the phone and was milliseconds from pressing the "Send" button when Dan entered. Rufus nearly dropped the phone in his haste to hide his ongoing correspondence with Lily.

"Hey, son. How was the library?" he asked nervously, still clutching the phone.

"Fine. Boring, like the library normally is." Dan replied, giving Rufus a weird look. "I picked up the mail. Bills, bills, more bills, something from the Van der Woodsen's.."

"What would the Van der Woodsens' have to send us?" Rufus asked curiously.

Dan's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. "Uh, did I say Van der Woodsen? I meant Slander...Woodsen.." He stopped, as Rufus had already snatched the envelope from the table and began to read it curiously.

"Is it mine? Dad, I told you, Serena's love letters are for my eyes only." Dan joked with a weak grin, watching his father's face as it seemed to turn eight different shades of white in complete and utter shock.

"You are cordially invited..." Rufus started, his voice more broken than Dan had ever heard it. "To attend the union of Lillian Van der Woodsen and Bartholomew Bass in holy matrimony. Park Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, New York. June 16th at 2 o'clock pm. Please reply with RSVP as soon as possible."

Dan shifted his weight from one foot to the other guiltily.

"How long have you known about this?" Rufus asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"Mr. Bass proposed about a week and a half ago. Serena told me about it a few days later when Lily accepted." Dan answered truthfully. "No offense, but when was the last time you and Lily talked?"

Rufus's eyes were still glued to the invitation as he said "About a week ago."

Dan opened his mouth to say something, than shut it again. "You've been seeing her?"

Rufus nodded. "How could you not tell me about this?"

"It never came up. I don't think we've discussed Lily except in passing since Thanksgiving. Its June. Plus, this isn't exactly a shock, they've been dating for what, five, six months?"

"You still should have said something." Rufus muttered.

Dan nodded. "I know."

Rufus pocketed the invitation and pretended to shrug it off, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a cheap bottle of beer. "Oh well. Good riddance." He lied, popping the cap and taking a huge gulp.

Dan patted him on the shoulder and left the room, left Rufus to his never-ending stream of jealous, miserable fantasies involving Lily Van der Woodsen, a white dress, and the lavish wedding he never got to give her. His cell phone vibrated in his hand, and he glowered at the name on the screen, chucking the phone into the kitchen and not even checking to see the damage that had been done. His thoughts continued in a never-ending circle: How could she keep this from him? Why would she keep this from him? Did these last five months, which had meant everything to him, mean anything to her? His stupor was broken halfway through his fifth beer as Jenny entered the loft, a wide grin on her face.

"And where were you?" Rufus demanded, words slurring together.

Jenny's smile faded as she noticed the empty beer cans littered around her father. "I told you, I went to Erik's to hang out. We watched Harry Potter, he finally got me to appreciate the series...are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, I'm fine." he said, waving his hands in an unintelligible gesture. "I'll see you in the morning." Rufus stood up from the chair and was able to maintain a straight line just until he reached his room. He immediately collapsed onto his bed, instantly asleep.

Jenny entered her room more than a little confused. After placing her purse on her bed, she flung open the garage door separating her room and her brother's.

"What's up with Dad?" she asked.

Dan looked up from his Lit paper in annoyance. "What do you mean?"

"Uh, he's drunk." Jenny said with raised eyebrows.

"What? I was just out there and he was fine!"

"Well, when someone drinks five beers in a short amount of time, they're normally not '_fine_,' Dan." Jenny responded sarcastically. "What happened?"

Dan sighed. "The wedding invitation came."

"Oh God. Poor Dad." She paused. "We probably should have told him. Now it's too late."

Dan looked confused. "Too late for what?"

Jenny shook her head. "Nothing. Its nothing."

Dan nodded slightly, turning back to his paper as Jenny pulled the garage door back down, torn between guilt and the need to _do _something. Sighing, she dialed a familiar number as she sank down onto her bed. "V? Hey, do you have a minute?"

Upon her return to her penthouse apartment, Bart's arm wrapped around her waist, Lily immediately checked her cell phone for what seemed like the millionth time that evening. Still nothing. This was getting to be somewhat ridiculous.

"Lily, is something wrong?" Bart asked, taking his other hand and touching her cheek gently.

"No, no. Of course not. I've just been stressed, planning a wedding in 3 weeks is crazy." Lily replied, devoid of the energy to come up with a different lie.

Bart smiled slightly. "I keep telling you to let the wedding planner do her job, darling."

"And I told you I didn't want a big wedding." Lily countered, her smile becoming strained.

Bart seemed to shrug this off. "Is it so wrong of me to want to give the woman I love the best I can possibly provide for her?" He leaned in and kissed her softly, she responded in the most minimal way possible. He didn't notice her lack of enthusiasm, pulling her insistently toward the couch, hands finding the zipper of her dress quickly. As her fiancé lay on top of her, Lily couldn't understand why in the dark of her apartment, she kept seeing Rufus's face breathing close to her own, his hands on her thighs, his lips on her neck, the look on his face as she ran away from him….

"Bart, I, uh, I can't." she stammered with a nervousness that was extremely out of character for her. She slid out from underneath him and mustered the most sincerely apologetic smile she could. "The seafood must not have done well on my stomach, I don't feel very well."

He stood up and surveyed her as she re-zipped her dress rapidly and smoothed it out self-consciously. "Would you like me to stay with you, maybe-"

"No, that won't be necessary." Lily replied, looking completely composed. "I have Serena and Erik, they can help me if I need it. It's not serious, I'm just a bit nauseous."

Bart nodded, walking towards the door. "And when may I see you again?"

Lily thought for a moment. "I have a dress fitting tomorrow, then the meeting with Karen at five, so I guess we'll have to see."

Bart nodded his head again, kissing her cheek once before exiting the apartment. Lily sighed, picking up her phone and glaring at it in annoyance. She dialed Rufus's number and bit her lip as she heard his voice: "Hey, Rufus Humphrey, leave a message."

"Rufus, its Lily. Look, you're not returning my calls, and I would really appreciate it if you decided to start." She hung up, crossing her arms and staring at the blank screen. Why did the two of them insist on acting like teenagers? She guessed that it all came down to the same old standby, especially when it concerned Humphrey men "If you want something done, you have to do it yourself."

Rufus opened the gallery the next morning as the sun rose, as he did every morning. His mind was still completely focused on the invitation he had received, the fact that Lily was engaged to another man tortured him in places he didn't even know could hurt. He couldn't believe that he had waited this long to come to terms, once again, with his feelings for her.

"Rufus." an all-too-familiar voice greeted, yanking him out of his thoughts. He forced himself to stare blankly at the wall, listening to the clicking sound her high heels made on the floor as she walked towards him.

"What're you doing here, Lil'?" he sighed.

He could picture the slightly confused expression that would only reach as far as her eyes as she answered "You haven't returned my calls," without missing a beat.

"You took a week to return mine." he said coolly.

"Oh, and how old are we, fourteen?"

"I don't know, Lily."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" she fired back.

He finally turned to look at her, staring directly into her bright blue eyes. "When were you planning on telling me you're getting married?"

Lily's eyes widened in surprise before she could control them.

"That's what I thought." he said bitterly, turning away from her and walking into the back room that served as his office.

"Rufus, of course I was going to tell you.." Lily started.

"What, the day of the wedding? Maybe you'd call me the night of your bachelorette party?"

"Have you been watching _Gilmore Girls_ with Jenny again? It happened last week. I wanted to tell you the last time we spoke, but as you know we were interrupted. After that, I didn't know exactly how to break it to you."

"Break it to me?" Rufus repeated, his tone mocking. "Don't flatter yourself, Van der Woodsen. Maybe I don't even care."

"So you normally get angry at people for not telling you something you didn't care about in the first place." Lily commented sarcastically.

"It's just like how you expect me believe that you can plan the wedding of your dreams in four weeks." he shot back. "Not like it matters anyway, soon he'll just be another deposit in your bank account."

"Says the man whose wife left him for a banker."

Rufus shook his head. "Did you really expect for you to waltz in here, tell me all about your upcoming nuptials, and for me to be perfectly okay with the fact for five months, we've eaten lunch together and gotten closer? Do you remember last week, Lily? Or did it slip your mind that we KISSED? Multiple times. Maybe you got it mixed up with all of the other men you're currently seducing."

Lily's eyes flashed angrily. "For your information, Bart was the one pushing for a June or early July wedding. And save the dramatics, you sound like my daughter. You knew I was seeing Bart, and you most definitely know that I'm not seeing anyone else."

"Except me." Rufus argued.

"Except that we're not seeing each other."

"Really? So you're not standing here, looking at me right now?"

"Rufus. We aren't an item. You have no right to tell me who I can and can't marry." She paused. "We had this conversation. Remember? We decided not to see each other, decided to give Serena and Dan the chance that my mother ruined for us. You know how it would kill them if we..if we were..together."

"So what are you telling me? That what we've had these past five months has meant nothing to you?"

Lily ran a hand over her face in frustration. "Rufus..."

"Lily, I'm still in love with you. I honestly don't think I ever stopped," he confessed. He took a step closer to her, reaching out to touch her face. Lily closed her eyes as his finger, rough from too many years of playing the guitar, caressed her cheek and locked under her chin, forcing her head upward slightly.

"Look at me." he whispered gently. She opened her eyes and blue stared into brown. He had that earnest look about him that she loved so much, that look that clearly revealed that he meant absolutely everything he said. "I know I should have told you this sooner, and God knows since I got that damn invitation I've been kicking myself for it. And I know that we decided not to be together, and that our kids will probably cringe more at the idea than they did when you said yes to Bart Bass, but I love you. That has to count for something."

Lily could feel herself leaning forward of an accord that certainly wasn't her own, or at least that wasn't connected to her conscious mind. Her lips were touching his before her brain could even fully grasp what he had said, her hands wrapping around his neck as the kiss intensified. He pulled away first, his hands reaching around her waist so that she was in his arms. Lily savored the feeling of his embrace, breathing in his familiar scent, before stepping back and looking at him with regret in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rufus." she whispered, her voice vulnerable and weak, nothing like the confident exterior even those close to her were used to seeing. "It's not enough."

His face fell as she exited the gallery, clutching her bag close to her body.

"And that's a wrap." Vanessa Abrams muttered to herself, watching Lily exit with an expression varying between happiness and confusion. She pushed a few buttons on her phone. "Jenny? Dan? I think we need to talk?"

Comments are definitely appreciated and valued! Even criticism. Was this part as good as the first, better, worse? Let me know. Part 3 should be coming soon:)


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